KYOTO Two male doctors were arrested Thursday on suspicion of assisting a woman suffering from a terminal disease to die by giving her a lethal drug.

Yoshikazu Okubo, who operates a clinic in Natori, Miyagi Prefecture, and Naoki Yamamoto, a doctor in Tokyo, allegedly administered a sedative to the woman at her home in Kyoto in November last year with her consent, investigative sources said.

The woman, who had the progressive neurological disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis also known as Lou Gehrigs or motor neurone disease is believed to have wanted to die.

Okubo, 42, and Yamamoto, 43, were not her attending physicians and are suspected of helping her die for money, the sources said.

Okubos wife Miyo, a former House of Representatives lawmaker, 43, told reporters in Natori that her husband often engaged in part-time medical work.

The woman transferred over 1 million ($9,300) to Yamamotos bank account, according to the sources. There were signs that she had contacted Okubo via social networking services to request euthanasia.

The sources said the womans ALS had progressed, and while she could talk, she could hardly move her body.

ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that causes gradual paralysis. Approximately 10,000 people are affected by the disease in Japan.

On the day of the incident, the woman had told her caretaker that acquaintances are coming, and invited the two doctors into her home.

They left about five to 10 minutes later, and the caretaker found the woman unconscious soon after. The woman was transported to a hospital where she died.

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Two doctors suspected of getting paid to help Kyoto woman die - The Japan Times